10 Tips for Filling Your House with Books (and Why You Need To)

 By Jacqueline Bodnar

Is your home filled with books? If not, it’s time to get started gathering them. While we have long known that getting children to read helps them learn, there is new evidence to suggest that the number of books that are in your home helps to determine how far your child will go in school. A published study in the journal Research and Social Stratification and Mobility found that the more books you have around the house, the better.

In fact, according to the study, children’s homes that have more than 500 books are at "as great an advantage as having university-educated rather than unschooled parents, and twice the advantage of having a professional rather than an unskilled father." Even those children who grew up with 25 books in their home were likely to complete two more years of schooling than those children whose homes did not have books. Further evidence demonstrated that giving a child 12 books of their own choosing at the beginning of their summer vacation is successful in helping to keep them from falling behind their peers over their long break.

Many people may be thinking that books are expensive and, therefore, are not an ideal option. But there are many ways to get books free or cheaply! Here are 10 ways to do just that:

1. Thrift stores. Check out the thrift stores in your area. They are usually great places to find cheap books of all kind. Those located at churches usually have more affordable prices than those that are bigger and more nationally known.
2. Garage sales. Stock up while going to garage sales. People are often unloading stacks of books, and you can even haggle over the price.
3. Book sales. Check out schools and libraries for used-book sales. Many libraries offer periodic book sales to clear out older books and make way for newer ones.
4. Exchange parties. Do you have some books your child has grown out of? Hold a book exchange parties with other parents. Have everyone bring books they want to exchange, and all the kids get to go home with new picks.
5. Gift parties. If you are throwing a birthday party, consider suggesting to all the guests that you would appreciate that any gifts be in the form of books.
6. Write a review. If you have a blog, contact a book’s publisher and ask for a copy of the book in exchange for a book review on the blog. Many will oblige, especially if you have a parenting-related blog. Just be sure to disclose in your review that the book was given to you. (Uncle Sam now requires that you do so.)
7. Ask people. A lot of people have books they no longer need, books that are lying around their garage or home. Put up a flyer on your local grocery store’s bulletin board, asking for donations of children’s books for your child. You just may be surprised at the response you receive!
8. Purchase reduced. In this digital age, there is very little reason ever to pay full retail price for books. Log online to do quick comparisons, and score some reduced books at Amazon.com or Half.com.
9. Stagger purchases. Rather than trying to buy lots of books at once, you can spread it out, purchasing one per week or month. Before you know it, you’ll have a sizeable collection.
10. Borrow. Let’s not forget our local library system. Each member of the family can check out a stack of books, which helps to keep fresh picks coming in the door. Make weekly or bi-weekly trips to the library a regular activity.

About the author: Jacqueline Bodnar is a local professional writer with two children who are surrounded by hundreds of books, most of which came from thrift stores.